Building care infrastructure and economic equity
Building care infrastructure and economic equity
What are your top policy priorities to address the barriers and challenges facing the care work industry (child care, elder care and health care) and systemically undervalued and underpaid care workers, 80% of whom are women?
“I think if you had something like universal healthcare or Medicare for All, where people could be compensated, and compensated fairly and provide, and have the staffing levels that are required to actually get the work done would go a long way towards addressing many of the issues…In terms of the campaign… the number one thing I hear about is healthcare, from everybody. The lack… not only the lack of healthcare coverage, but a lot of the lack of healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas where they don't have the clinics available to them.”
Highlights from our conversation on April 1, 2026
“The number one thing I hear about is healthcare …not only the lack of healthcare coverage, but a lot of the lack of healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas.”
Ensuring reproductive and gender-specific healthcare
Ensuring reproductive and gender-specific healthcare
What do you see as the biggest barriers and challenges facing access to consistent, high-quality perinatal care given the rapid closure of birthing units, especially in rural areas?
“What really annoys me is when people talk about Medicare for All, universal healthcare, or something along that line, the first thing they say, “well, how do you pay for it?” Well, we already pay for it. We already pay for Medicare. We have an assessment for Medicare. We already pay our taxes, and that's what covers it. Nobody ever questions how much it costs to send an armada to Iran. They just do it. If you are willing to make it a priority in public policy, you can find a way to pay for it.”
“I think the federal government is situated so much differently than the state government, because the state government has to balance its books, right? The federal government can create wealth, and that's the entire Hamiltonian system that we've inherited, and you know, it's often thrown away as in, ‘Oh, the government can just print money.’ Well, it's a little bit less inelegant than that. You know, the federal government has the power to solve problems. Franklin Roosevelt had no problem creating structures to help people in a very, very dangerous time…”
“If you are willing to make it a priority in public policy, you can find a way to pay for it.”
Ending gender-based and carceral violence
What do you see as the key policy interventions to support sexual assault and domestic violence survivors and protect access to services given recent federal VOCA funding cuts?
“Manifest support from elected officials, including funding. 100%… I think there's still that resistance to be involved in issues of domestic violence, because it's something that's happening in someone's home, and they should be left to deal with it. But violence is violence, end of the line, and people don't deserve to live that way. And the best way to address these things is up front and head on. The systems are a great vector for that, and we should support them and do more.”
What policy solutions do you support to address gun violence in our state and country, and the disproportionate impact on women and gender-minorities?
“I was chair of the Fish and Wildlife Committee, I was executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, etc. I'm an outdoorsman, I'm a gun owner. That said, I do think these are issues that we cannot simply draw them out and allow ourselves to be divided. Everybody has to work on this issue. One of the things I think is promising is, the passage of Question 2, the Red Flag Law.”
“Violence is violence, end of the line, and people don't deserve to live that way. And the best way to address these things is up front and head on.”
“We cannot … allow ourselves to be divided. Everybody has to work on this issue.”
Developing equitable & accessible government systems
What policies or approaches, if any, would you support to ensure eligible voters can participate in elections, and that people who want to run for office are able to do so?
“As a former Secretary of State, this was my wheelhouse. This is what I worked on for 14 years. Some things, like Question 1 this past fall, are designed to do the exact opposite… I think we run elections really, really well here in Maine, where we have Election Day registration, we have no excuse absentee balloting… The SAVE Act… I hope it stays bottled up… That would be a very, very negative thing to happen to this country.”
“I think we run elections really, really well here in Maine.”
Other notable quotes
“I stayed home with my daughter [when she was born]. I remember asking my mother, how on earth did she ever manage 5 children, a business, and a farm. How did you do it? And she said, ‘Matthew, there is no how, there's just do.’ And that's an ethic that a lot of people have to cleave to in that situation, where you just have to do what you have to do, and people don't have the luxury of thinking about outside resources. I think that's the job of public policy makers. If I'm in Congress, that's something that I would be very, very keenly aware of and want to work on. The Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, I think, is just a tremendous resource, and has been a great boost for folks.”
“But in terms of the policy objectives, there's no reason to wait for society to catch up with a good idea and policy, and that's things like the Equal Rights Amendment. That's things like these fair pay issues, and access to care, and access to resources, to support families. I mean. women are the heads of households of many families, and they face so many greater challenges, as do people of color. You know, people, LGBTQ folks face similar challenges and similar discrimination, perhaps more pronounced. And I think that we shouldn't be patient with that, and I don't think we should accept it. And in terms of the policy objectives, I think we just need to find ways to lift people up. Bottom line, and and without regard to their race, their gender, their income status, people should have access to the resources they need to succeed.”
“I was one of the five commissioners on the Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and I couldn't believe it. It was a great group. It was searing, wrenching work. And when you heard testimony from people about what had happened to them in our child welfare system - I think I even said it out loud. I mean, who does this stuff to little kids? You know, torturing little children because they were Indians. Just awful, awful stuff. And unfortunately, we have episodes like that repeated over and over again in our story. And I believe in mercy and kindness, and that's what I work for in my work as a public policy person, as much as I do in my private life.”
“I do think the ERA is a critical amendment to the Constitution. My grandmother… was arrested, marching for suffrage. And it's hard to even think about that in that context. It was in two generations for me that, just asking for the right to vote could warrant being taken away to jail. It's just unbelievable.”
Each profile features direct quotes pulled from candidate’s answers to our questions. Full transcripts of each conversation can be found by clicking here.